PPA Urges House to Look at Health Care for Photographers

On February 4, Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and its allied organizations renewed efforts to advance photographers’ access to affordable health care by sponsoring a letter sent by the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee.

Pleased to see that a dialogue on small business owners and employees’ access to health insurance was indeed renewed this Congress, PPA and its allies joined the Coalition in writing Chairwoman Nydia Velasquez (D-NY-12) and Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO-6).

The letter stressed the Coalition’s desire to work with lawmakers to urgently find health care solutions for small businesses. As the letter states, “Health insurance remains one of the fastest growing and most unpredictable costs small employers face from year to year…Simply put, Congress must do something about costs—for the individual, the employee, the employer, and the overall delivery system.”

“While the health care debate continues on Capitol Hill, photographers struggle to afford adequate health coverage,” explained David Trust, PPA’s Chief Executive Officer. “It is time to address this growing problem for all small business owners.”

A number of bills addressing small business health care needs were introduced in the House last Congress, among them H.R. 6210 - The SHOP Act and H.R. 3660 - Equity for our Nations Self Employed Act, both of which were supported by PPA and its allied organizations. PPA remains hopeful that these and other beneficial pieces of health care legislation will be once again brought to the floor.

In addition to representing members on copyright issues, PPA is a strong advocate on small business issues, primarily relating to health care. Through the Small Business Coalition for Affordable Healthcare, PPA advocates health care solutions that meet the needs of small business owners, employees, the self-employed, and their families. In previous Congressional Sessions, PPA has supported various health reform bills, in particular those that would provide trade associations the ability to create insurance pools on behalf of its members.